2013

Welcome to 2013. I'm glade everyone survived the Mayan calendar, even though they NEVER said the world would end, but moving on.
I've been asked what my New Year's resolutions are and to be honest, I never make them. So I answer, "To make it to 2014." That sounds like a good goal right, to make it through the year in one piece?
Well I decided this is the year I will sign with an agent. The ONLY way I see that happening is to get off my butt and push my writing. I have to admit, I have been getting lazy in this department and I need to change.
I'm going to try to post more often here, writing little by little, so I ask that you please bear with me with some stupid post that I know will be coming throughout the year. My hope is that by writing daily, no matter how out there it may be, I will sharpen my tool that is my mind.
Happy New Year everyone.

Are You Better Off Today?

Are you better off today than you were four years ago?  This is a question that’s being asked a lot in this political arena.  It’s a question that was asked over twenty-five years ago when conditions were pretty much the same as they are now.

As I’ve heard this question asked more than a dozen times in one hour it got thinking, am I really better off today than I was four years ago?  That’s a heavy question to answer and one that could not be answered easily.  Taking all politics out of the question, so I could get a true honest answer, am I better off today than I was four years ago?  The answer is YES.

Like I said, I’m taking all politics out of my answer so when I say Yes, it has nothing to do with the policies of ANY political party.  Now, when I answer, “Yes I’m better off,” it’s because of my own hard work and nothing else.

The year was 2008.  I had been writing as an author for two years now and had less than twenty followers or fans.  I had lost my house and was now living in the heart of the ghetto of North Houston, Greenspoint, better known as Gunspoint.  There was only one car to share between my wife and I and since she had my daughter she got the car, one that was barely running at the time.

To pay the bills I was working for a security company that was barely keeping it’s head above water.  I had no health insurance, close to eighty security officers who reported to me and hated my guts, a bunch of properties that were under my care to improve on their conditions.  I worked close to eighty hours a week, twenty four of those hours were straight, but only got paid for sixty of those hours.  I was on call 24/7 and if I got four hours of sleep at a time I was lucky.

Thanks to my hard work the company was expanding and expanding fast.  By the end of the summer I had helped to double the size of our branch, we were no longer treading water.  Just as things were looking up Mother Nature threw us a curve ball, Hurricane Ike.  After the storm I went to work protecting our interest.  I made sure all our properties were being looked after, personally driving in a patrol vehicle twelve hours straight and having the other patrol officers take up the other half.

That hard work earned me a full time office position and a raise.  Our accounts doubled again because of my hard work.  In January of 2009, thanks to the raise, I was able to get my family out of the run down apartments in Gunspoint and into a house we rented.

With my hours now reduced I was about to concentrate on my writing.  I had self published two books and learned the hard way about self publishing.  If I wanted to sell my work I had to sell it myself.  Selling myself I did.

I was already an avid blogger on the MYFOX sight.  Houston was my main source of blogging but I was making appearances in New York, Los Angeles, and much to my surprise Raleigh, North Carolina.  I went from having less than twenty followers in a two year period to having over fifty followers, as well as a few haters.  I’ve always said, “You haven’t made it big until you have a few haters.”

I was living high on the hog for the next two months.  Life was great until one day I came into the office and the gates of hell had broken loose the night before.  Long story short I was now without a job because I did the right thing.  I refused to allow the loss of a job to turn my life upside down again.

I made a few new contacts due to my actions after Hurricane Ike.  I managed to gather a few favors while I was at it.  I decided to try to cash those favors in.  While there was a hiring freeze going on; through the contacts I landed my current job and am still here today.

A month after my new employment I received an email from my publisher that they were going to make a deal with local book stores to buy back any unsold books not sold during a book signing IF they gave me a chance to have a book signing.  It was my job to get the store manager to agree.

I hussled and emailed every Barnes and Noble in the Houston and surrounding areas but they were pretty much all booked up for the summer.  There was a Barnes and Noble where I worked and after meeting with the manager face to face he decided to give me a chance, even though self published authors was frowned upon by B&N.

I was excited.  I was interviewed on an internet radio show and by the local newspaper where I was going to have the book signing.  I just had one major problem, my publisher was screwing me over on the price of the book.  They were charging $25 for the paperback book and I had no say over the price.  It was MY book and even I would not pay that price, so I came up with ideas for freebies.

The book I really wanted to push was The Guardians, and I had not found a publisher yet, refusing to use the same publisher I was using.  I figured if I could drum up enough interest in the book I had a better chance of getting an agent to sell the book to.  I hand printed booklets on my printer with the first two chapters as a teaser.  I had T-Shirts made up that said I <3 a="a" angels="angels" back="back" book.="book." bought="bought" first="first" for="for" guardian="guardian" of="of" on="on" people="people" set="set" span="span" style="mso-spacerun: yes;" ten="ten" the="the" who="who" wings="wings" with="with"> 

Also I had book marks, a cloth shoulder bag to carry the books in, and booklets of poetry I’ve written for everyone who bought a book.

Invitations were sent out to all my contacts in the Houston and surrounding areas.  The day of the book signing came and it was time to see if all my hard work had paid off.  I had twenty books to sell and only four hours in which to do so.  With support from my family and hard work I sold eighteen of the twenty books, the other two selling a few days later.  I made new fans that day and am very grateful to all whom came out, including one who drove almost an hour to come see me.

There was one person who walked past me and smugly said, “If I can’t read it on my Nook then it’s not worth me reading.”  That comment stuck with me.  Right then I decided to take matters into my own hands.  I was no longer going to be at the mercy of some publisher who did not care about me.  I needed an agent.  Over the next few months I pounded the pavement with both fist trying to get an agent for The Guardians.  I was rejected over and over.  Finally I received a rejection that hit me hard.  While every rejection I’ve gotten so far was a form letter this rejection was hand written and was a personal attack on me and my book.

That rejection letter hit me hard, I was about ready to give up, put the cap on my pen and never write another word.  I went into my dark place and didn’t come out for two weeks.  When I came out I decided to do everything myself, after all, no one will work harder to sell me than me.

Over the next few months I was working hard to get the books I had completed so far to print, in paper and electronic form.  Granted I rushed, and have been trying to fix my mistakes ever since.  With my books printed, my ebooks available for free, I started to gain more followers. 

In 2008 if you did a Google search for Max M. Power it took you five pages before you found me.  Now, four years later, if you do the same search it takes three pages before I’m not on the page.

I have a steady job, three years so far.  I own two cars, and will be getting a third in February of 2013.  I have my own house, in a nice quite area, far from the ghetto I have lived all my life.  I have health insurance, it may be shitty insurance but it’s still better that the none I had four years ago.  So YES, I am better off today than I was for years ago but this is due to my own hard work and nothing any political party has done for me.

Are you better off today than you were four years ago?

Weapons vs Police Officers

A few things the average person does not know about weapons vs Police Officers.
1. A person with a knife can clear 21ft and stab an officer in the neck before he can clear his holster, even if the officer backs way while doing so.
2. A BIC pen can be shoved in someone's neck with very little force.
3. A knife CAN go through a bullet proof vest but most knife attacks are not to the torso but other vidal areas.
Keep this in mind. When an officer tells you to put something down or show your hands it's for everyone's safety. An officer does NOT have allow you to attack them and kill them before they act. At the end of the shift EVERY officer would rather go home on their own two feet than in a body bag.

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To My Fans

First I would like to start by saying Thank You to all my fans. Without you I would just be a big mouth with no one to tell my stories to. Your support has been overwhelming, again, Thank you.
This year has been a rough one. I had a lot thrown at me all at once and I have been taking things one problem at a time. In my heart I keep telling myself, How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. That's how I'm taking these issues, one at a time. Now that we are nearing the end of the year I am coming around to my final bites.
I know I have been an advocate for free materials to anyone who wants to read, and I am still very serious about this, which is I created Please Read To Me. Through this venue I will provide free books and ebooks to those who make a request on my website, www.writingwithpower.com
With that said, it is with a heavy heart that I make this announcement, as of January 1st all my ebooks will now cost $0.99. I have been giving away my books for free since 2008 in hopes of gaining fans of my work. I know it's not the best in the world but I am always trying to improve for you, my readers.
My grammar is still, for a lack of a better word, lacking, and that too is something I am working on for you, which is why I am reediting all my books and if you have a copy of my current email me with the titles you have and I will send you a copy of the revised version.
With the new year will come new projects. Hopefully you will like what I have in store for you. Thank you for your continued support.
Forever your humble author,
Max M. Power

Dear Customer Service

Dear Customer Service,

I understand that when trying to get new customers you offer special promotions to draw customers in.  I am in no way saying this is a bad thing but you are creating a huge problem.  While you are offering your promotions is everyone else.  For every NEW customer you draw in you have to ask yourself, how MANY are you losing? Why are you losing customers? Simple answer, you are screwing them over.

If you have a customer who has been with you for 2 plus years, I would call them a loyal customer, regardless if they have a contract or not.  They make their payments every month, they don’t cause any problems, they don’t ask for something every few moths. THESE are the customers you decide you want to screw over.

Customer: Can I have an upgrade? You: Suuuuure, just pay full price for the item. Discounts are for NEW customers only.

Customer: My bill keeps increasing, can I get a break of some kind since I’ve been with you for so long? You: Noooooo!!! But here is a rate increase for you. Be sure to pay your increase bill on time.

Customer: I’m paying out too much every month, I can’t afford to keep this service. You:

All the customer hears is crickets chirping. I’m informing you that if you continue to treat your loyal customers like second class customers then your competitors will soon have NEW customers. Please offer your loyal customers rewards too.

Sincerely,

A Loyal Customer

My First Graphic Novel

I have a small dilemma and I am asking for help. If this decision involved just myself I would not put so much thought into it but I have two brothers, artist just starting out, who need me to make a well informed decision.
First off, The Guardians has been turned into a graphic novel. Seems people really like the concept of this series being made into a graphic novel but if you put a gun to my head and told me to draw a stick man I would be dead, I just can’t draw to save my life.
Artist after artist read The Guardians and agreed it would make a great graphic novel but none thought they could do the book justice, until these two brothers. I know NOTHING about printing a graphic novel and need to be pointed in the right direction. Any ideas or suggestions would be most welcomed.
Thank you.

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Have You Ever Been In Love?

Have you ever been so in love that no matter what happens you still love them? A love so strong you know you've been together in a past life? A love so pure you know you will meet in the next life? A love that makes you babble on and on and you can't make any sense no matter how hard you try? A love that is so innocent you smile when thinking of this person. A love so hungry that the slightest touch drives you insane? A love that can not be crushed my time, death, or even the person wishing to move on away from you? Yea, it's like that. Have you ever been in love?

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The Border Crossed Who?

 There is a saying that is being repeated over and over in California, and is making its way over to Texas.  “California is full of Mexicans back when it was Mexico.  They didn’t cross the border, the border crossed them.”  People are finding this statement funny and repeating it but when you repeat it have you really thought this through?  Let’s break this down shall we?

First off, I was born in the beautiful state of California, I lived there a total of ten years, bouncing back and forth between Texas and California, until I was eighteen.  Texas is my home but California is my birth place.  I was fortunate enough to study both state history’s in school and I’m proud to have done so.

Now when the “Border crossed them,” it was called a Revolution.  Both California and Texas fought for Independence from Mexico.  What does that mean?  It means they no longer wanted to be a part of Mexico.

Both became their own Republic.  They no longer called themselves Mexican because they did not consider themselves to be a citizen of Mexico, but instead called themselves Californians or Texans.  They were proud to be their own people, their own nation.  They fought and died for that freedom to be separate from Mexico.

Do you see a pattern here yet?

When the United States was spreading west bound they asked these Independent Countries, make no mistake they were their own country once they left Mexico, to join the Union.  So they now became citizens of the United States, again, no longer calling themselves Mexicans but the more common term of Americans.

With all this said, let’s look at what California and Texas is full of, um, not Mexicans, because let’s get this straight people, being a Mexican is a nationality not an ethnicity, they are full of AMERICANS!  That’s right they were born here as Americans not Mexicans.  So when you see the truth this statement falls apart.

Please don’t repeat a false statement, it doesn’t look good for anyone.